Representing India in Switzerland
- V Soumyasree, Aurangabad
e-mail: devmudraa@yahoo.in

August 16, 2011

I was fortunate enough to be selected as one among the nineteen artistes from different fields and from over five continents for Caux Artist Program at Caux, Switzerland for a fortnight residency program (25th July to 8th August 2011), an interdisciplinary program/course in arts, music and humanities.

We all got scholarships at different levels and coordinators of the program were Bev Appleton, Hollywood and theatre artiste and director, Philadelphia, and Uwe Steinmetz, musician (Saxophone) from Germany. It was presented in association with Renewal Arts, an international network of people who share the conviction that the different forms of art can be positive and powerful forces for changing our personal lives and the wider world
 
Goals of the Caux Artists Program were:
•    To challenge artists to explore the ethical and spiritual dimensions of the arts
•    To build communities of artists from different cultures and faiths in a shared, sustainable commitment
•    To build bridges across different cultures and faiths in the global community
•    To create a lively and challenging cultural exchange at the Initiatives of Change Conferences in Caux, Switzerland

Being there and living in a multi-cultural community of artistes, I realized that Indian culture is held in high esteem all over the world. And I was lucky enough to share my art many a time in the form of performance, lecture-demonstrations and workshops. In fact, Indian dance was so much in demand, I was invited by the authorities of Caux village and conference committee to perform at the Swiss Independence Day Celebrations on 1st August 2011. It was an honour for me as an artiste to perform Bharatanatyam and to represent India at an international platform.


V Soumyasree is director of Devmudraa, a movement school in Aurangabad